Disclaimer: Don't own Tutu… just the DVDs, but that's it. I swear!
Vignette Fourteen: Not Yet Dead (Part 2)
Fakir never got to see how the second half of the ballet turned out, just as intermission was ending OC-sensei, his classical literature teacher rushed up to him in panic.
"Mr.Fakir," He breathed. "I need you to come with me immediately. There has been an incident at your home."
His mind automatically jumped to Retzel, round with child. "What happened?"
"Apparently, a thief broke into your godfather's forge and stole something. Your godfather was injured in the incident."
Fakir was of course out the door and half way down the street at the word "injured". 'Karon…' He thought. 'Please be okay.'
Karon, as it turned out was fine. Fakir returned home to find him sitting on the porch waiting, while a concerned Retzel dabbed at what appeared to be a cut running from the left temple of his forehead to just behind his ear.
Hanz came rushing up to meet him. "A thief broke into you godfather's forge this morning after you left for school!" He seemed flustered and breathless.
"I know." Fakir stated. "OC-sensei told me. Why'd they break in? What was taken? Is Karon okay?"
"He was knocked out before he got a good look at his attacker but he's fine now." Hanz placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "Retzle found him lying on the floor when she went to invite him to breakfast."
Karon looked up when Fakir reached him. "Are you okay, boy?" He asked, concern overflowing through his eyes as Retzel secured a bandage over his wound.
"Am I okay?" Fakir questioned, flabbergasted. "Are you okay? What happened? Who did this to you and why?"
"I thought somebody might be after you because of what was taken." Stated the old blacksmith. "Retzel, stop fussing. I'm not going to drop dead from this little scratch."
She "humfed" and walked over to stand next to her husband, muttering about "stupid male pride" or something.
"After me?" Fakir blinked in confusion. "Why? What would anyone have against me? What was taken?"
Karon gazed unblinkingly into Fakir's eyes and said in a flat tone. "The Lohengrin Sword."
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"I hope everything's okay at Fakir's house." Stated a concerned Ahiru. "I have a bad feeling…"
"I'm sure it's nothing serious." Rue assured her as they continued on their way back to the girls' dorms.
"Ne, Rue-chan? What do you think was up with that dancer who looked like Fakir?" She laughed awkwardly. "Maybe he's Fakir's long lost twin brother or something… heh heh."
Rue cast a sideways smile at her companion. "Some how I don't see that being the case."
"Your probably right." He smile seemed to waver. "Ne, Rue-chan?"
"Yes?"
"Hoff-chan is really lonely, you know." She didn't meet Rue's eyes when she said this; she was in-fact, staring intently at the cobblestones of the street. "I can see it in his eyes and here it in his voice. He's a very lonely person."
Rue remained silent, digesting Ahiru's words.
"But it's not like when Mytho was always lonely." Continued the pink princess. "Back when the only feelings Mytho had were disappointment, loneliness and sorrow… Hoff-chan has a full range of emotions, he just doesn't let himself feel anything but anger, sadness and loneliness."
"He doesn't trust, either." Rue was also not looking at her friend. The stones paving the street seemed very interesting. "I think it's my fault, mine and Mytho's. We were his parents the people who were supposed to protect and nurture him and we… failed."
"Rue-chan…" Ahiru patted her friend reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'm sure you and Mytho did the best you could."
They had reached main gate to the dorms. "But Ahiru, you don't know… Mytho…"
"Ah, ladies." Her angsty monologue ended when Autor came running up. "Can I walk you home?"
"We're already here." Rue informed him irritably.
"Ah, well…" He ran a hand through his thick dark hair. "Yeah… um."
"Autor-san." Ahiru piped up. "You did a family tree on Fakir once, right? So you would know if he had a twin brother or not, right?"
Rue's face fell into the palm of her hand with an embarrassed 'thunk'.
"Well." He was suddenly very snobbish, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose so they reflected the light of the setting sun and effectively hid his eyes from view. "It's more accurate to say it was a family tree of Herr Drosslemyer, but yes I would know whether or not if Fakir had a twin brother."
"And does he?" Rue prompted anxious to satisfy Ahiru so they could go inside.
"No, he does not."
"Thank you." Rue ushered Ahiru through the gates and steered her toward the girls' building, while Autor headed for the boys'.
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"How was the show?"
Knight looked up to see his master sitting in the open window, casually holding what looked like a rod wrapped in clothe in his hand.
"I went well." Answered the obedient puppet. "I saw him in the audience; the one who stole my role and my Prince."
"Did you now…?" Hoffnung hopped down from the window. "I brought a gift for you, Knight." He held up the cloth-concealed object. "Well, not exactly a gift, since it did originally belong to you…"
The Knight took it curiously, his eyes widened as he slowly slid the material off the steely gray hilt of the Lohengrin Sword. "Oh… Thank you."
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Rue was rudely jolted from her sleep by a knocking at her dorm room door. Groggily she rolled out of bet to open the door and put and end to the offending noise.
"Rue-chan." Ahiru began almost as soon as it creaked on its hinges. "I think we should go talk to Fakir."
"Ahiru?" The dark princess asked sleepily.
"I have a bad feeling, like something terrible is going to happen to him…"
Rue suppressed the urge to say 'Are you sure it's not just that you want to see him?' and instead said: "Can't it wait until tomorrow."
"No." Ahiru stated firmly, her eyes narrowed with determination. Her hand closed over the shard of hope. "We need to speak to Fakir tonight, right now!"
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The house was asleep and the evening was quiet as Fakir slipped silently through the back door of Karon's forge. The old man had been treated for his wounds hours earlier and the family had sat down to discus why anyone would want an old sword like the Lohengrin. Fakir had remained tactfully silent during all of this, and now all had gone to bed and were peacefully floating on the sea of dreams, all accept him. He had so see the Book Men.
He tip toed lightly until he reached the lane, then broke out into a light jog. The Old Man would know what was going on. He would know why there was another him walking around, why the Lohengrin Sword was stolen… he probably knew much more that he's told Fakir that first time.
So wrapped up in his own thoughts was Fakir that he failed to notice a dark figure silhouetted against the moon watching his every move. "Ah… Imposter…" It muttered. "The time for retribution is now!"
Fakir gasped as a cloaked figure jumped down in front of him, blocking his path. "Who are you?"
The figure turned to face Fakir, reveling an iron mask from beneath the hood of his cloak. The same iron mask Fakir himself had worn in episode 7 when he'd tried to pierce Mytho's heart.
"What business have you with me?" He pressed when the figure gave no response.
"Imposter." The figure finally spoke, drawing a sword from within the folds of his cloak. The blade shone in the moonlight and Fakir saw it was the Lohengrin Sword.
"It was you!" Fakir pulled his trusty letter opener from his pocket, the same letter opener with which he used to stab himself (why he kept this in his pocket only the plot whole knows). "You hurt Karon, you stole the sword!"
He lunged at the mysterious stranger with his severely in-adequate letter opener, only to stumble and trip, as his dull blade contacted nothing but air.
"Your moves are to predictable, Imposter." Stated the cloaked stranger whom had dodged Fakir's attack effortlessly. "It's no wonder you failed to protect my Prince."
"What?" Fakir turned to face his opponent from his position on the street.
"FAKIR!" Ahiru's voice rang through the empty street like a church bell.
The above-mentioned Fakir turned his head just in time to see Ahiru and Rue running towards him before his pink princess was swept up in a cloud of shojou sparkles that solidified into a golden egg.
"What are you doing here?" He asked the ballerina super-hero that emerged.
"She… was… worried about… you." Panted an exhausted Rue, as she braced herself on her knees for support.
Princess Tutu gracefully glided over to the stranger. "I'm Princess Tutu, I dance to guide you heart." She informed him.
"Princess Tutu…" The figure sank to one knee and lifted his mask to kiss her hand, revealing a face that was identical to Fakir's in every respect. "I thank you for trying to restore my Prince's heart, Princess Tutu." He rose to his feet. "But I must ask you not to interfere with my business tonight." He turned to Fakir. "There has been a blight on my honor and I demand satisfaction!"
Fakir like-wise rose to his feet. "I see. So you're the other me, huh?" He held his letter opener as if it were a sword. "I guess it would have turned out this way sooner or latter."
"Ooh. Isn't this exiting?" A sadistically entertained voice asked. "True Knight vs. False Knight."
"Hoff-chan!" Rue looked up at her son whom had apparently been watching from the rooftops the whole time.
Rue gritted her teeth as she was swept up in a flurry of shoujo sparkles of her own that solidified into a silver egg.
"I can't let you keep doing this!" Queen Kraehe shouted up at him.
"You're welcome to try and stop me, Mother." Responded the rebellious Raven boy.
Kraehe bit the inside of her cheek as she glanced between Fakir and the Knight, and Hoffnung. Which would it be more productive to engage? The Knight, whom was threatening her writer or her son, the source of all the trouble?
"Knight-san." Princess Tutu leapt between the two mirrored fighter. "Why do you have Fakir so much?"
She took the Knight's left hand in her right and placed his other around her slim waist. Knight, taking the hint, lifted her up off the cobble stone street and twirled her around.
"He stole my mission from me." The Knight explained. "My purpose, my life… my Prince." He placed the pink Prima Donna back down.
"How did Fakir do that?" the pink princess pressed.
"He wrote a story…" He didn't actively engage Princess Tutu, but he was still dancing with her. "I felt it when I died; the power of another story pulling me in."
"What did I write?" Fakir shouted, anxious for an answer. So he HAD inadvertently created another self.
"What did Fakir write?" Princess Tutu asked.
"He became a hero and defeated the ravens that were plaguing his town… this town." Knight elaborated. "But he did it wrong. The ravens attacked his home but he couldn't do anything and his parents were killed and I… I was bound to him. The wounds from my death were painted on his flesh and he became a distorted version of me."
Princess Tutu gasped and looked to see how Fakir was taking this news. He was trembling slightly while staring fixedly at the scar on his hand, the scar he'd given himself when he tried to stop Drosslemyer from drowning Ahiru.
"I…" He muttered. "I can't write anything write."
Hoffnung laughed evilly. "Ha ha! Isn't this great? Watching you suffer is better than 'Air TV'!" (This was an anime that my Anime Club was showing at the time as Princess Tutu.)
"Hoff-chan, stop it!" Kraehe leapt to the rooftop and stood before her wicked son. "Don't you see? Your just perpetuating more suffering. I know it's hard; I had to live with the Raven's blood almost my entire life as well. But you have to fight it!"
"Fight it?" He echoed. "I embrace it. Raven is what I am and my Raven's blood makes me powerful. I should thank you, it's because of you and Father that I'm like this and not some weak simpering Princeling that needs a failure of a Knight to save him."
Knight luckily was still hypnotized by Princess Tutu and did not hear Hoffnung's last comment. "He stole my life and he stole my Prince from me!" Tears began sparkling in the corners of his eyes threatening to fall. "He stole my Prince and then failed to protect him! It's because of him… because of him that my Prince was taken by the Raven! It's his fault!"
Now the Knight truly was crying, the tears streaming from his eyes seemingly without end. "My Prince… my Prince." He muttered.
Princess Tutu ceased her dancing, unsure of what to do. "Knight-san…"
"My gosh…" Kraehe muttered. She fluttered down to the street to stand next to Tutu. "You were in love with him!"
"What?" Knight looked up at the Raven Queen. "No… I…I'm supposed to protect him… that's all! Just protect…"
"You wanted to protect the one you love." Kraehe took his hand in hers. "That's a feeling I understand. I also want to save Mytho. We all want to help him."
"No!" He pushed Kraehe away. "HE doesn't care about my Prince! If he cared he would have given his life instead of breaking the sword and letting the Raven into his heart!"
"Then it's also my fault." Tutu stated. "I returned the shard of love to Mytho. I thought it was the best thing for him, I didn't know it had been soaked in the Raven's blood."
Knight looked confused, glancing back and forth between Princess Tutu and Fakir. "No… it's his… fault."
"If Tutu is to blame, than so am I." Queen Kraehe joined. "It was I who stole the love shard and soaked it in the Raven's blood. If you're going to take your revenge on Fakir and Tutu, then you might as well include me in it as to."
Now Knight was thoroughly confused. "But you are…" He glanced inquisitively at Hoffnung. "My master told me not to harm you."
"Oh, Knight." The ebony Prince sighed. "Just finish that useless writer and get it over with."
"I wont let you!" Princess Tutu placed herself firmly between Knight and Fakir. "I wont let you hurt Fakir!"
"Ahiru." The writer in question placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Its okay. I think I know how to handle this…" He faced the Knight with out fear. "I will release you."
The Knight too a sudden fearful step backwards. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I'm going to release you." Fakir repeated as he wrapped his arms around the Knight.
"Oi! Knight! What are you doing?" Hoffnung shouted. "Finish him!"
Fakir held Knight close to himself. "You don't have to linger any longer." He whispered so only the Knight could hear. "That story is over. Rest now, I'll tell you story for you. The good along with the evil… it will the readers who judge you accordingly." He placed a gentle hand over Knight's eyes. "The rest is silence."
A wooden puppet much like the ones Tutu had seen inside the story clattered to the ground at Fakir's feet. Lying on top of the puppet was a single black feather wrapped around a glowing red heart shard and the torn page of a book. Fakir knew that page well, he lifted the Knight's death scene from the ground and clutched it to his chest.
"That story is over." He said again. "I am not the Knight, I shall never waver about my writing again." He turned and smiled at Princess Tutu.
"NO!" Screeched the thwarted antagonist. "Why!? Why can't you die?"
A violet mist snaked its way up Hoffnung's body to form at his fingertips. He now held an intimidating, but familiar black sword in his hands.
"I'll just have to kill you myself! Your heart will taste so sweet!" He lunged for the pony-tailed writer.
"Don't!" It was Kraehe who came to his rescue, blocking the blow with a fan made of ebony feathers. "I can't let you kill him, Hoff-chan."
Unable to fight his mother, he released his sword and vanished.
Princess Tutu picked up the shard of resentment. "I should return this to Myhto but… but I don't know where he is."
Fakir walked over and wrapped his arms protectively around her. "We'll find him. Don't worry." The 'Don't worry' however, was aimed at Rue who looked like she was about to cry.
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"What are you doing here?" Mytho asked.
Autor pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, hoping it would hide his face. "I realized she'd never love me." He didn't meet the captured King's eyes. "You're the only one she'll love."
"Raven's are sort of monogamous that way." Replied the former protagonist.
"I guess you're right." He picked up the scalpel Hoffnung had used to cut open Mytho's heart.
"What are you-"
SLASH
Mytho clattered to the cog wheel floor gasping. "Why would you…?" He glanced back up at the strings that Autor had just cut him free of. "I thought you and Hoffnung were in cahoots."
"I realized her happiness was more important than my own." His back was turned to Mytho now. "Now get out of here before Hoffnung gets back." He handed Mytho a small glass bottle. "Here are the shard he took before he found resentment. Now leave, before I change my mind."
Mytho took the shards and left.
Fin for now…
(I know it's been a while, but thank you for your patience. I've got allot of stuff going on with work and all. But thank you for your reviews.)